Not if you do it colorfully...

In the classic movie "Major League" after a local yokel has asked Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn for his autograph, the wise old catcher Jake Taylor and the rookie from the California Penal League have the following conversation:

Taylor: "You're a celebrity now Vaughn."
Vaughn: "I thought you had to do something good to be a celebrity,"
Taylor delivers the punchline: "Not if you do it colorfully."

At Tuesday nights game between the Nationals and the Phillies, I had my first opportunity since the infamous Pujols incident of 2005 to see Brad Lidge take the mound. The Phillies closer was dominant last night. He looked like a professional pitching to little leaguers. Nats batters in the 9th did not have a chance. Only 2 Lidge walks and some clever baserunning by Elijah Dukes created the appearance of 9th inning drama. Felipe Lopez's game-ending feeble roller to chase Utley was the only fair ball the nationals managed to hit in the 9th.

Despite the dominant performance unfolding before my eyes, every look at Lidge, every time i saw his name on the Nationals Park massive HD scoreboard, every time he threw a slider or fans in my section mentioned the slider; I thought of October 17, 2005. The sonic boom when the ball hit the bat, Lidge's immediate imitation of a cold war-war duck-and-cover posture on the mound, and the sight of that ball flying into the night are all just too vivid of images to be easily forgotten.

Lidge is having an all-star caliber season in 2008. His performance thus far is making Phillies GM Pat Gillick look like a genius. But, for this baseball fan, the name Lidge has joined the ranks of ballplayers who are sadly defined by their darkest hour.

There are the usual names of baseball goats which ESPN, Sports Illustrated, FSN, and other sports-oriented publications and networks will never let fans forget: Bill Buckner, Fred Merkle, Fred Snodgrass, Ralph Branca, Mitch Williams. More detailed lists will include Donnie Moore, Ralph Terry, and Mickey Owen. But there are lesser-known fallen heroes who don't usually make a sportsctner top 10 but who, for my money, will always be "the guy who screwed up":

The Top 10

No. 10-- Lonnie Smith. Game 7 1991 World Series. Jack Morris has held the Braves scoreless through 7 innings. Lonnie Smith, the Braves veteran outfielder/world Series DH, led off the inning with a single. With NL Batting champ Terry Pendleton at the plate, Smith took off for second as part of a hit-and-run play. Pendleton laced a double into the gap. As he approached second base, well on his way to scoring a run and breaking the 0-0 deadlock, Smith was duped by a mock double play turn by Twins rookie second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and savvy shortstop Greg Gagne. Slowing down as he approached second, Smith only made it to 3rd on Pendleton's two-bagger. Morris would wiggle out of the inning and the Twins would go on to win the game and the series in the bottom of the 10th.

No. 9-- Jose Canseco. Before their was Jose Canseco: Best-selling author and would-be Nobel Laureate, there was Jose Canseco: Bulky, Slugging outfielder. Known far more for his prowess in the batter's box than his skill in the outfield, Canseco made a habit of turning outs into doubles. On May 26, 1993, while playing rightfield at Municipal Stadium in cleveland, Canseco attempted to track down a deep fly ball off of the bat of Cleveland's Carlos Martinez. Running onto the warning track, Canseco whiffed on his attempt to catch the ball which proceeded to strike the Texas rightfielder in the head and bounce over the wall for a homerun. Click here to view.

No. 8-- Jose Lind. Who? Lind was the stud second baseman of the 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates won the NL East in 1992 before falling behind 3 games to 1 to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS. The Pirates fought back to force a Game 7 in Atlanta. In the deciding game, they led the defending NL Champs 2-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. With no one out and Terry Pendleton on 2nd base, usually sure-handed Lind booted a David Justice grounder. After several walks, a sacrifice fly and a pop-out, Francisco Cabrera lined a 2-out series-winning single to left field. The Pirates have not had a winning season since.

No. 7-- Bob Stanley. With 2 out in the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Bob Stanley was summoned from the bullpen to get the series' final out. With Mookie Wilson at bat and runners on 1st and 3rd, Stanley threw a 2-2 pitch "juuuuuussssst a bit inside." Wilson leaped backwards out of the way and the errant pitch sailed past Boston catcher Rich Gedman. Kevin Mitchell raced in from 3rd to tie the game and Ray Knight advanced from 1st to 2nd. 2 pitches later, Wilson hit the infamous "little roller" through the legs of Bill Buckner, Knight scampered home to score, and the series went to a Game 7. If Stanley had done his job, Bill Buckner's name might not now live in infamy.

No. 6-- Chuck Knoblauch. Seven years after he duped Lonnie Smith in the 1991 World Series, Knoblauch, now playing for the Yankees, entered the ranks of the infamous during the 1998 ALCS against the Cleveland Indians. Sports Illustrated commented that Knoblauch "nearly needed a police escort to escape New York" after the Game 2 loss. With a runner on first in the top of the 12th inning of Game 2, the Indians Travis Fryman bunted. Yankee pitcher Jeff Nelson fielded the bunt and fired to first base. The ball struck Fryman and skipped past the covering Knoblauch down the right field line. Rather than chasing the ball as the Indians runners dashed around the bases, Knoblauch stood at 1st base gesturing and arguing with the umpires. Enrique Wilson would score all the way from 1st on the play and the Indians would win the contest 4-1.

No. 5-- Mark Wohlers. The man whose name came up most frequently as Brad Lidge was having post-Pujols troubles. Wohlers was the hard-throwing closer for the Atlanta Braves in 1996. The Braves won the National League East that year, breezed through the Division and Championship series and stole games 1 and 2 of the World Series on the road against the New York Yankees. After dropping game 3 at home in Atlanta, the Braves led game 4 by a score of 6 to 3 when Mark Wohlers surrendered a shocking game-tying homerun to Jim Leyritz. The Yankees would go on to win game 4 in extra innings, take game 5 1-0, and win the world title with a 3-2 triumph in game 6.

No. 4-- Byung-Hyun Kim. The 2001 World Series was not kind to the young closer from South Korea. Like game-tying home runs? Kim was your favorite pitcher for a few nights in late October 2001. The Yankee heroics have often been emphasized, and, given the calamities which had recently struck New York City, its fair to focus on the Yankee side of things. But, the fact is that Kim blew leads on homeruns on back to back nights in the World Series in Yankee Stadium. His team won the series, but, honestly, when you hear Kim's name, does something other than October 2001 come to mind?

No. 3-- Armando Benitez. This is one from which I will never, ever, ever, recover. The 1997 Orioles were wire-to-wire champions of the American League East. The Birds made short work of the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS and breezed to a Game 1 win against Cleveland in the ALCS. Holding a 4-2 lead with 2 outs in the 8th inning of game 2, Orioles set-up man Armando Benitez walked consecutive batters before surrendering a 3-run, momentum turning, heart breaking homerun to Marquis Grissom. From my seat in the right centerfield bleachers at Camden Yards, I had all too clear of a view of Grissom's drive clearing the left-centerfield wall. Benitez would gain greater infamy the following year for a beanball against the Yankees which set off fisticuffs. But, as far as I'm concerned, Game 2 of the 1997 ALCS is the true albatross around Benitez's neck.

No. 2-- Kenny Rogers. 7 years before the pine tar on the pitching hand incident in the World Series, Rogers had a rough go of things in the 1999 NLCS. With the Mets behind in the series 3 games to 2, Bobby Valentine brought Rogers on to pitch the 11th inning of game 6. The veteran left-hander proceeded to surrender a leadoff double. After a sacrifice bunt and two intentional walks, Rogers went 3-2 on Andruw Jones before missing BADLY with the full count offering to walk in the pennant-clinching run. Series over on a walk-off walk. Bobby Valentine was seen on camera slamming his hands on the dugout railing shouting "No No No No!" as the winning run trotted home.

No. 1-- Alex Gonzalez. Gonzalez gets the top spot here because Steve Bartman has taken the rap for his miscue. A few batters after the now notorious "Bartman ball," the Cubs led the Marlins by two. The Marlins had runners on first and second with 1 out. Rookie sensation Miguel Cabrera stroked a ground ball towards Cubs shortstop Gonzalez. Double plays do not come any more tailor made. Gonzalez muffed the grounder. No outs were recorded. The inning turned into an implosion and the Marlins would continue the oppression of the Cubs. If Gonzalez fields that ball, Steve Bartman might very well not be a household name.